Declarations and Naturalizations - St. Clair County, Illinois

The Process, Extant Papers and Records, and Hints for Locating Your Ancestor

THE PROCESS
Naturalization was, and still is, a voluntary act. Usually, naturalization was a three-step process. 1. Declaration of Intent filed. 2. Petition for Naturalization filed. 3. Oath taken. Upon meeting residency requirements, an ancestor may have filed the Declaration of Intent (First papers) in one court, and subsequently file a Petition for Naturalization / Citizenship (Second papers) in a different court, sometimes in a different state. Sometimes a person only filed a Declaration and failed to complete the process.

Naturalization-related documents could be filed in any court that retained a written record at the municipal, county, state, or federal level. These variables make finding the documents difficult. During some wars, the Declaration step was waved in return for military service with honorable discharge. Derivative citizenship was granted for women and children when the husband or father completed all the steps. Consequently, documents for women are rarely found before 1922 when the law changed. Children, upon reaching adulthood, might later file a minor's petition for naturalization. If a name change took place during the process, this change will usually be noted on the Petition.

Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Microfilm on interlibrary loan may be ordered through Family History Centers across the United States.

Office of the Circuit Clerk, courthouse at Belleville, telephone: 618.277.6600 became the custodian of all St. Clair County historical naturalization-related documents and books from the various lower local courts. Not all papers and documents or record books survived into the late twentieth century. In 1995, original papers and record books stored offsite were released by the Circuit Clerk and transferred into the IRAD system for preservation. The Office of the Circuit Clerk retained a number of original declarations, petitions, and final oaths, all in manuscript form, and most dating from the 1920s-forward. These particular records are also on microfilm on location.

PAPERS v. RECORDS

Papers refer to documents filed in court. Today these papers may be in manuscript or microfilm form.
Record usually refers to the court's record book. The Court Record is usually limited to a name, number, and date.

In general, Declaration of Intent Papers and Petition to Naturalize Papers BEFORE 1906 include little genealogical information. No ship name or arrival date, no names of family other than the applicant, no town of birth in the old country.

Papers AFTER 1906 provide a wealth of genealogical information, although the extent may vary by document or time period. When possible, obtain both the Declaration of Intent Paper, and the Petition to Naturalize Paper. The Declaration or Petition after 1906 may include the ship name, date of arrival, town and date of birth, and names of wife and children or siblings. It was in 1906 that the federal government standardized the naturalization process and documentation. Today, the Immigration and Naturalization Service handles the entire path toward citizenship.

Original papers held by this court have been destroyed. All that remains is the Court Record (book) now online in the member area of this site. This Court Record book includes only the name, court date of the Declaration or Petition, and a number.

c.) An index to surnames in these SCCGS Quarterly volumes is on this website, here.

The original County Court Record book is preserved at the
Belleville Public Library Archives. The Archivist can provide a photocopy for a fee of the ancestor's entry when you provide his name, court term and year as transcribed in the SCCGS Quarterly issues specified above.

Occasionally, the applicant's copy of the County Court Declaration of Intent may be included with the Petition and Final Oaths if Second Papers were filed in a different court. Such was the case for Angelo Temanti whose County Court Declaration of Intent was included when he filed Petition and Final Oath in the East St. Louis City Court.

No Original paper documents survive for Circuit Court Declaration of Intent and Circuit Court Petition for Naturalization up to 1905 (see exception below). However, the Circuit Court Declaration Record (book) and Circuit Court Naturalization Record (book) survive on microfilm. Each Court Record includes the name, court date of the Declaration or Naturalization, and a number.

This Circuit Court Declaration Record 1835  circa 1904 is on microfilm reel 9, sequence 200004 at the Circuit Clerk's Office, courthouse at Belleville. The original Record book is very likely lost or destroyed. No transcription has been done at this writing (January 2010).

The Circuit Court Naturalization Record 1816  1905 was transcribed by Robert Buecher as St. Clair County, Illinois [Circuit Court] Naturalization Index, 1816–1905, (Thomson, Ill.: Heritage House, 1976). The Record contains the court term naturalized, the number, and the name. Surnames beginning with the letter Q were omitted; however, the original Court Record should include any that were filed. Many libraries have this publication, including the
Belleville Public Library Archives.

The Circuit Court Naturalization Record is similar to the Declaration Record illustrated above.

The original Circuit Court Naturalization Record book 1816  1905 is preserved at the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (see link above). The Circuit Court Naturalization Record 1835  circa 1904 looks just like the image of the Declaration Record, above.

On rare occasion, nineteenth century minutes of the Circuit Court might mention an order for the Final Oath. IRAD has minutes of some courts available up to about 1877. An exact year and court term facilitates this search.

Filby published St. Clair County Naturalizations in his Passenger and Immigration Lists
Index, (Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1981). However, Filby used Buecher's work for the Passenger List compilation. Use Filby's publication when Buecher's is not close at hand. Filby's works are in many libraries, and online at fee-based genealogical websites.

The exception. Naturalization papers 1855 - 1861 for about 60 men whose surname begins with the letter G are preserved
at IRAD. This list of names first appeared in St. Clair County Genealogical Society Quarterly, volume 4: 4, (1981), pp. 201 and 202.

EAST ST. LOUIS CITY COURT DECLARATIONS AND NATURALIZATIONS 1874  1906

The East St. Louis City Court Declarations of Intent (18541906); Petitions for Final Papers and Naturalization Final Oaths; Minor’s Petition and Final Oath; and Soldier’s Petition and Final Oath are interfiled in one record group titled "East St. Louis City Court Naturalizations 1874  1906."

Search the index to East St. Louis City Court Naturalizations 1874  1906 (offsite) on the
Illinois State Archives
web site. Read information there for ordering these papers through Belleville Public Library Archives has this microfilm set (search the online index first before requesting copies from the BPL).

East St. Louis City Court Naturalization Record 1876  1899, and the East St. Louis City Court Declaration Record 1876  1899. These books are on microfilm at IRAD in Carbondale. These Record books include only the number, name, court term, and year of declaration or naturalization.

The Office of the Circuit Clerk at the courthouse in Belleville also maintains a set of microfilm. See reel 9 sequences 200001 and 200002. The microfilm reels may be searched on site. Microfilm in this Office cover other years before 1906 but all are cumbersome to use because finding aids do not specify the court's name for each record set. Check with the Circuit Clerk office for access since may change over the years.

A "Certificate Of Arrival" generated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) may be among naturalization documents. Aliens who arrived in the U.S. after 29 June 1906 were subject to this additional naturalization step which required their immigration record be verified. All certificates are typewritten, not all certificates of arrival were preserved by all courts.

The title of the document has frequently led to misunderstanding, causing some to state that certificates of arrival were issued to immigrants upon their arrival in the U.S. This was not the case. This, and the following from Loretto Szucs and Sandra Luebking, editors, The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy, 3rd ed. (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2006), p. 403.

First, the immigrant applied for naturalization, sometimes five or more years after entry.

Next, federal naturalization officials had to verify the immigrant's lawful admission to the country with his official immigration record, usually a ship passenger list.

Once the immmigration record was located, arrival information was certified on a form called a Certificate of Arrival.

The certificate was then forwarded by federal naturalization officials to the court where the immigrant had applied for citizenship. The certificate served as proof of the immigrant's eligibility to naturalize.

View a Certificate of Arrival for Charles Goldberg, whose name upon arrival, was Schaje Goldberg.

Circuit Court Declarations, Petitions, and Final Oaths 1906  circa 1945 are microfilmed and on permanent loan at the local Family History Center (FHC), 255 Fairwood Hills Dr., O'Fallon, Illinois 62269. Telephone 618.632.0210. A cooperative SCCGS project to index the principle person in these papers will appear here beginning 2010.

Index 1906 through 15 July 1918, posted 5 May 2010. Photocopies, and access to naturalizations of this court through your local FHC, or the St. Clair County courthouse, are also discussed at this link.

IRAD in Carbondale has Circuit Court Declarations of Intent Papers 1906 to circa 1957 with a fair amount of genealogical information, particularly for later years.

Information on Declarations of this court is similar as illustrated above for the Circuit Court

IRAD in Carbondale has Circuit Court Letterbooks 1906 to 1924, Circuit Court Order books 1929 to 1957, and Circuit Court Petition Record 1906 to 1957. These books contain brief court records of the event. Three name changes are also documented on the Circuit Court Petition Record illustrated here (Teubig to Klein, Lidicka to Lidisky, and Petersitsky to Peters).

East St. Louis City Court Declarations of Intent Papers 1904 to 1950 are located at IRAD in Carbondale.

These papers are similar in content to those of the Circuit Court illustrated above.

East St. Louis City Court Petitions for Naturalization Papers 1906 to circa 1957 are on microfilm in the Circuit Clerk's Office at the courthouse at the courthouse in Belleville. Microfilm may be viewed on site but is cumbersome to use because index guides does not specify a specific court name for the documents on microfilm. Some indexes appear at the beginning of a reel, or separately.

Documents for this era are similar to those of the Circuit Court illustrated above.

IRAD in Carbondale has East St. Louis City Court Petitions for Citizenship Papers [but titled Petition Record] 19031910, 19211929 on microfilm roll 8A. Some indexes are available at this facility. Other papers may be included with the Petition file, for example, Declaration of Intent from this or another court, alien registration documents, and sometimes a photograph.

East St. Louis City Court Naturalization Order Books 1929 to 1949 are located at IRAD in Carbondale. The Order Book of this court is similar to that of the Circuit Court illustrated in the pre-1906 period above.

If not found in the East St. Louis City Court, be sure to check naturalizations by the Circuit Court after 1906, a court also used by East St. Louisans.
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U.S. DISTRICT COURT DECLARATIONS AND NATURALIZATIONS AFTER 1906

1906 to 1944

There is no index available locally for Declarations, Petitions, or Oaths filed with this court 1906  1944.

Papers filed 1906 - 1944 for Declaration of Intent, Petition for Naturalization, and Oath in U.S. District Court are only available at the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in Washington, D.C. The U.S. District Court can assist in obtaining these records. Because of the lengthy wait, search papers available through other courts to rule out the possibility the papers are held elsewhere before tackling this one.

Documents for this era are similar to those illustrated for the Circuit Court.

Photocopies may also be requested through the INS Genealogy service. See the Genealogy link in the left column on the INS website.

1944 to Present

An index for Declarations and Petitions, 1944  present filed with this court is available on-site, U.S. District Court, 750 Missouri avenue, East St. Louis, IL 62201.

Since the 1990s, a person files an application for naturalization with the INS in Chicago. INS visits the U.S. District Court in East St. Louis three times a year to interview applicants from the metropolitan region. When the process is complete, the naturalization ceremony is at the District Court. Papers are kept with INS. [Conversation with the author 1995] Recent files may be closed for privacy reasons.

Photocopies may be requested through the INS Genealogy service. See the Genealogy link in the left column on the INS website.
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1. Determine your ancestor's place of residency during the time he would have filed a declaration or petition.

The federal census will show the county an ancestor lived. Many St. Clair county immigrants spent a few years in St. Louis or elsewhere prior to settling here. The St. Louis County Library has naturalization resources 1816-1941 for the St. Louis area.

2. Determine the year of naturalization using other source documents and files.

Federal census population schedules for 1830, 1870, 1900, and 1910 include naturalization related questions asked of immigrants. Be sure to obtain an image online or photocopy from microfilm of the complete schedule. Indexes and partial extracts seldom include more than a name, place, age, and relationship.

World War I Draft Registration Cards include naturalization questions. Those for St. Clair County are on microfilm at the Belleville Public Library Archives, and are digitized on some fee-based genealogical websites. The St. Louis County Library website outlines questions
asked for each Draft. Click here to explore WWI Draft Cards.

Homestead Applications include naturalization information. If your ancestor applied for federal land in states to our west under the 1862 Homestead Act, naturalization papers may be included in his land entry case file. Read more about The Homestead Act (off site at NARA) and how to search this record group.

Passports may include the year and court naturalized. Read more about Passports as a genealogical resource (off site at NARA).

Passports indexed and digitized may be available at fee-based online genealogy websites.

Newspapers sometimes ran lists of new citizens, although names may be rendered differently than in court.
Some news articles which appeared in Belleville and East St. Louis newspapers are indexed in the Belleville Public Library Archives newspaper abstract files.

Descendants may preserve an immigrant ancestor's declaration or naturalization documents.